Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
“ To be fond of dancing was a certain step to falling in love. ”
~Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
A fter a long afternoon of meetings and site visits, Elle reentered the lobby and found herself riding up in the elevator with Malcolm.
“You did great today,”Malcolm said, as the elevator dinged for her floor.“When we were at the clinic earlier today, their director pulled me aside to say how excited they are about this Tele-Cardiology pilot you spoke with her about.I didn’t know you would be pitching anything.”
“Well, I was prepared if the opportunity arose,”Elle replied as she stepped off the elevator. She turned to Malcolm, who wore an unsurprised smile on his face.
“I’ve noticed that the opportunity always seems to arise when you are in the picture.”He nodded.“See you tonight.”
As the mirrored doors closed, Elle did a victory dance.She needed to carry this confidence with her for the rest of the day.No doubt the hotel’s camera caught every sashay of her happy hips, but who cared.
The TV hummed in the room as Elle entered.Slipping her shoes off at the door, the faint sound of the shower greeted her. Scanning the room, she noticed a yellow Post-It beside a bottle of water and bag of nuts. Warmth spread through her at his careful handwriting saying, Elle’s snack .
With a mischievous grin, Elle disrobed, leaving her clothes in a heap on the carpet. Creeping into the bathroom, tendrils of steam danced around her.
God bless glass showers! Clayton’s backside was framed in the door of the shower, his face raised under the spraying water.Licking her lips, she watched the soapy foam glide down his muscular back, dripping to his ass. The muscles flexed as he lathered shampoo through his sandy hair. Elle’s breath shallowed, thinking of those massaging fingers exploring her body.As he washed away the shampoo, Elle slid the door open.
“Elle.”A smile filled his voice, as he continued to stand with his back to her. “You’re early.”
“Indeed,” she sassed, running her finger up his spine, feeling his pleasure shiver against her.“Turn around.”
“Elle.”He repeated her name with a lopsided grin, as he turned facing her. The water licked every taut inch of his torso.
“Let me take care of you,”she murmured, running her fingers along the small trail of hair from his belly button leading down.
Eyes locked with his, she lowered to her knees.Her hands caressed up his strong legs, cupping his ass, eliciting a breathy laugh from him. Her lips pressed against Clayton’s inner thighs as she moved up to his swelling length. His needy moans, ragged breath, rocking hips, and gentle tugs on her hair signaled his enjoyable undoing.
Later, Elle stood in front of the bathroom mirror, swiping a soft pink lip stain over her lips, the final touch to her outfit. Her hair hung in loose wavy tendrils past her bare shoulders. Pink pearls, a gift from Tobey from his Hawaiian honeymoon, rested at her collarbone, a slightly lighter shade than the rosy satin dress she wore. Elle’s hands glided down the smooth fabric, admiring how it hugged each curve creating a sexy and sophisticated silhouette.
Aunt Janet was spot on about this dress! Maybe she’d have to go shopping with her aunt more often.
Pushing into her strappy silver kitten heels, she turned a few times in the bathroom mirror before taking a selfie to send to Viet and Willa.
Reveling in the surging confidence, she stashed her phone in her silver clutch, and joined Clayton in the other room.
“I’m ready.”
“You are stunning.” A big smile filled his face.
“You look pretty wow yourself.” She stepped closer to him, waggling her brows.
The black suit he wore molded over his muscular figure. He wore the pink tie she’d bought him on her shopping trip with Aunt Janet.
“I have something for you,” he said, pulling a small black box out of his pocket.
“Clayton.” Elle bit her lower lip, as she opened the box revealing a thin silver bangle engraved with starfish.“This is beautiful.”
“After lunch, Nat took me to that dog bakery the two of you had been apparently texting about, to pick up the dog cookies you wanted to bring back for Fitz,” he said, bemused.“The cashier had one like this and said she got it in a shop down the street.I knew you were going to wear the pearls, but I wanted you to also have your starfish tonight to remind you of how many you have helped to get back into the sea and how many more you will.”Clayton slid the bangle onto Elle’s right wrist, kissing her hand like the hero from an Austen novel.
“I love it.”Pressing up to her toes, she placed her grateful smile against his admiring one.
Clayton was a hit with the Sloan-Whitney crew. Over cocktails, he and Malcolm had bonded over the importance of animal rescue.Malcolm had shared pictures of Jack and Diane, the chocolate lab pair he’d adopted from a shelter and named for the John Mellencamp song.
“I know this pug,”Malcolm chuckled, as Clayton showed him a picture of Fitz.“He attended our director’s meeting yesterday.I didn’t realize he was yours. The way Elle fawned over him during our meeting yesterday, I assumed he was hers.”
“I didn’t fawn,”Elle laughingly protested.
“Oh, she fawns,”Clayton’s smile curled with teasing appreciation. “I went to a dog bakery today specializing in organic dog treats to pick up treats for Fitz.Apparently, Elle had researched dog bakeries and texted my sister to help secure the treats.”
“Well, I promised Fitz a treat.”
“I don’t know if he needs more treats. He seems a little pudgy,” Malcom chuckled.
“Don’t body shame our dog!” Elle tsked with a laugh. Our dog? Realization wagged its finger at her. “I mean Clayton’s dog,” she corrected, tightening her grip around her wineglass.
Clayton’s fingers located at the small of her back massaged slowly. “Fitz isn’t ours, we’re his.”
The words and his stroking fingers easing the threatened tension of muscles in her body.
Before dinner, Elle excused herself to the ladies’ room.
“Oh shoot.”A tall woman with long black hair grimaced in the mirror, as Elle washed her hands.
“Are you okay?”Elle asked, watching the woman dab at her hot pink taffeta dress.
“I dribbled some wine on my dress. At least it’s white.”
“I got you.”Elle opened her clutch pulling out a stain removing pen. Elle always kept a few essentials in her clutch just in case something happened, a stain-removing pen, Band-Aids, breath mints, Tylenol, and a tampon. The essentials.
“Bless you! I have to give a speech in ten minutes, and I didn’t want to be thinking about this the entire time.”
“I once got a run in my pantyhose before a grad school presentation. I took them off and tossed them in the trash rather than deal with knowing there was a run in them.”
“Men never think of these things.I once had a male colleague that presented with his shirt misbuttoned, and nobody said anything.A week later, I had the tiniest smudge of toothpaste on my blouse and three people commented on it after a meeting.”
“At least they knew you brush your teeth,”Elle quipped.
The woman tossed her chin up with laughter and then outstretched her hand. “Magda Parsons.” The Geneva Breast Cancer Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer known for her no nonsense management-style was the last person that Elle expected to be fretting over a stain.
“Elle Davidson.”
“Sloan-Whitney.” Magda wore an impressed expression.
Ah, so Magda knew who she was.
“I read that piece in the LA Times about the Mobile Mammography program in Arizona and New Mexico. Very impressive outcomes through increased routine screening in rural communities.”
Elle preened a bit. “Thank you. I’m very proud of that program.We’re partnering with Indian Health to support Indigenous Communities as well. I’d like to expand it to other rural areas across the country,”Elle said, pulling out her phone.“I know you need to get out there for your speech, but if you’re open, I’d love to set a time to speak to you.I read an article in the New Yorker about your desire to move your foundation toward service provision, as well as retaining the research you fund.”
“You know what…”Magda said, placing her hands on her hips.“…I’m the boss. This is my fundraiser. They can wait an extra ten minutes. Give me your pitch.”
Elle glided back to her table with a massive smile on her lips and a meeting with Magda on Monday to discuss a potential partnership between the Geneva Breast Cancer Foundation and Sloan-Whitney. Yes, boss bitch!
“You look happy,” Clayton commented as she sat at the table.
“I am.” She leaned and kissed him, not caring that her boss sat a foot away.
At the end of the night, Elle and Clayton walked, hands clasped along the red and gold carpeted hall leading to the elevators.Music waltzed into the long corridor from the large ballroom.Streams of blue and white light from the ballroom crisscrossed the ceiling outside its entrance. Clayton halted mid-step, his eyes drifting to the open doors of the ballroom, causing Elle to stop short.The first bars of “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran played.
With a grin, Clayton turned to Elle. “Our song.” It had been the song they’d danced to at the wedding.
Ours? Her smile couldn’t get bigger. Maybe she’d let herself swim in the waters of “Ours” even if only in the shallow end.
“Dance with me?”Clayton asked, holding her hand against his heart.
“Here?” Elle’s eyes swept the hallway lined with an assortment of red sofas, chairs, and potted plants.
“Yes.”He placed his hands on her waist, pulling her in close.
“Ok,” she whispered.
Wrapping her arms around his nape, she moved in tandem with him, their eyes tethered.The small wall sconces bathed them in soft light.
The gentle thump of her heart accompanied Clayton’s husky voice as he sang. Each word, each lyric, seemed a secret message from his heart to hers. Closing her eyes, she drowned in the moment. The entire world faded away. In that moment, despite the self-doubts and flaws or, maybe, because of them, Elle felt perfect.